"Believe in Magic" by Phyllis Castelli
The wind is the sculptor that shapes the shoreline.
Vince poked holes, and I scuttered along crab-like, planting sprigs one by one.
Phyllis Castelli is at home for a while on one of the northernmost beaches in Currituck County, North Carolina. Beauty is everywhere, especially in the sky, the wild horses, and the ever-changing sea, a true invitation to create something magical. She and her husband, along with their Labradors, Cara and Oliver, are hoping for happily ever after.
Phyllis’s poems and essays have appeared in Quillkeepers Press, The Avocet, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Tar River Poets, among others. As a very young poet, she published Gentle, I Think, a book of poems with pen and ink illustrations.
Author’s Talk
Phyllis Castelli
It has been 16 years since we finished building Believe in Magic. For a long time, we lived on the beach but kept one foot on the pavement, trying to balance careers, family, and those unwelcome, unwieldy burdens that show up on your doorstep without calling first. For a while, life on the road became omnipresent, and we stayed away from life on the sand. The dream languished but did not die. Now, Vince and I are back on the beach, back to living by the wind and the tides and keeping the pantry well-stocked for times when the Wind Wizard and the Atlantic Ocean decide we will be staying put.
There is a custom among southern Protestant churches called Homecoming, when past and present members of a church gather on a Sunday morning for the church service, followed by a bounteous meal. Homecoming is a special time and takes a lot of preparation. Usually, the choir has learned a new anthem, the church is freshly groomed and flowered, and anyone who has a favorite dish or a special dessert is called upon to provide it. The closing prayer for church is often the blessing for lunch, which saves time in getting to the serious business of doing one’s duty by the folks who provided the food. Homecoming is a celebration, a time when the old and the new come together to acknowledge what holds them together, like a bridge from past to present and back again.
For Vince and me and the Labradors, coming back to live in this house has been a true Homecoming. We have been planning this life and putting the pieces together for a very long time, so there is both newness and a sense of the familiar in daily life. We returned to this house with the joy of greeting and embracing a dear friend, one who never gave up on us, as if by magic.—Phyllis Castelli
